SafeScape

11" x 8-1/2", hardcover, 285 pages, American Planning Association. $78.00. Table of Contents Read the Introduction 7 Principles of SafeScape Order Now

In SafeScape, the authors examine aspects of the urban environment that influence crime and the fear of crime, and recommend strategies for building — or rebuilding — downtowns where visitors, residents, workers and others feel safe and are safe.

SafeScape takes the concepts incorporated in the widely accepted CPTED (Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design) principles but goes a step further by placing a greater emphasis on the key role that community building plays in reducing crime.

Personal observations, community case studies, and hundreds of photographs from cities, downtowns, and neighborhoods across America create a readable, practical guide to safer, livelier, and more inviting communities.

Seven chapters guide readers through the SafeScape approach:

Chapter 1 provides an overview of the issues of crime and the fear of crime, and an introduction to Safescape as a holistic approach to addressing those issues through changes in the physical environment.

Chapter 2 discusses the evolution of the SafeScape concept, and details the seven guiding principles. Click here to learn more about the principles.

Chapters 3 and 4 focus on identification of physical design issues, and provide examples of how the SafeScape principles can be used to respond to those issues and contribute to downtown and neighborhood safety and livability.

Chapter 5 includes an overview of opportunities for implementing SafeScape principles, and provides specific examples of policies, guidelines, and regulations that have been adopted by various communities.

Chapter 6 includes case studies that show how public safety issues are being effectively addressed in a variety of project settings. The case studies help the reader better understand specific public safety situations, and the planning and design solutions used to address them.

Chapter 7 provides a photo gallery showing the extremes of how we may overreact to our fears and overcompensate in our security efforts.

Overall, SafeScape clearly and concisely shows how public safety can be improved through often-basic changes in the physical environment.

Table of Contents

1. What is SafeScape?
• The public safety challenge
• Understanding safety through others’ eyes
• Fear of crime and the physical environment
• The role of SafeScape in community building
• Creating SafeScape: A safer urban landscape
2. Defining SafeScape
• Back to basics in understanding how we live
• Crime prevention of a different sort
• Environmental crime prevention methods: Descriptions and origins
• Evolution of the SafeScape principles
• The SafeScape principles • How to optimize the use of SafeScape
• Neighborhoods, downtowns, and the SafeScape principles
• Terms you should know
• The SafeScape philosophy
3. Livable neighborhoods
• What is a neighborhood?
• Why should we care about neighborhoods?
• What are the challenges to our neighborhoods?
• Gates or neighbors? Obtaining safety through community
• Principle V: Land use and design
• Principle VI: Activity and programming
• Principle VII: Management and maintenance
• Toward safer, more livable neighborhoods
4. Downtowns and Main Streets
• The importance of downtowns to safety and livability
• The perception and reality of public safety in downtowns
• Principle V: Land use and design
• Principle VI: Activity and programming
• Principle VII: Management and maintenance
• Toward safer, more livable downtowns
5. Implementing SafeScape
• Understanding the context
• What is a neighborhood safety audit?
• Collecting and using crime data for urban planning and design
• Legal support for implementing SafeScape
• Common planning and design tools
• Implementing SafeScape planning and design: Five examples
• A model implementation checklist
• Conclusion
6. Project case studies
7. Examples of extremes
• Learning from our extremes
• Sources of our fear-real and perceived
• Responses to our fears
• Safety through community
8. Appendices
• An opacity guide for fences and walls
• Lighting design for exterior areas
• Sample "Public Safety Through Design" guidelines
9. Bibliography

Your Guarantee of Satisfaction

Safescape is guaranteed. If you are not 100% satisfied, you may return it within 30 days for a full refund.

About the Authors

Dean Brennan, AICP, is an urban planner in the public sector with expertise in long-range planning that fosters stable and livable neighborhoods. His approach stresses citizen participation and consensus building as important tools for creating sustainable communities.

Al Zelinka, AICP, is a principal of RBF Consulting’s Urban Design Studio. Over his nearly 20-year career, he has worked with more than 125 communities to improve and revitalize neighborhoods, commercial districts, and downtowns.

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